[violetpretty]

Elephant Walk, although quota is traditionally described as the number of PNMs divided by the number of chapters, that's not strictly the case. Because bid matching is done by computer programs, quota can be adjusted up or down to to balance the number of women placed with the number of chapters making quota. Several scenarios will be run in the program and the one with the best outcome will be chosen. These are extreme examples, but I think it illustrates the point: Quota could be 200, and every PNM could get her first choice, but almost no one would make quota. Quota could be 50 and every chapter could make quota per se but there would be many unmatched women and then there is always the question of where the quota additions end up. This is called a quota range.